Upholstered furniture and the method of constructing same



March 6, 1945. B, BRODY y 2,370,711

UPHOLSTEREDl FURNITURE AND THE METHOD 0F CONSTRUCTING SAME Filed DeG. 16, 1940 Patented 1Man'. 6, 1945 UNITED' i PA'EENfr fore-'Ice UPHOTSTERED www naman' y ANU 'um Ma'nronor' eoNsTnUoT-ING SAME? BenaminBrodLGhicagc; lilla;v Application December 16, 1940, serial Namo-2er V realm. (lei. s-lati,l

. invention relates. to'improvements. in. up.- holstered. furniture and' tothe.. method. of conlstructingthesame.. l

Intlie manufacture offurniturehaving.upholo,

'stared backs, itis, generally...the.presenttpractice so;.construct, the.. back of. the article. of. furniture; that'. a. iinished' appearance is, presented. by the'. forwardlydirected portions. whileA a less.- at.-

tractive. appearance isA presented `by the rearwardl'y directed, portions. Usually a. cover is tackedcn atuthef rear edges of. the back to finish the. upholstery..v This isv undesirable not only from anesthetic; point'. of'vi'ew, since it is then. neces,-

sary. to place; the. article. of; furniture proximate to a. wall or;- in such. a position that the rear- Ward portion;l thereofisf not4 readily; visible but,

also, as a. practicalv matter, the protruding tacks disflgure and damage a wall' surface when such an article of.` furniture is moved into contact.

therewith. Also with the present methods 'of -portions. thereof present substantially similar `pleasing appearances.

A further object of this invention is the elimination, in articles of furniture having upholstered backs, of the tacks or fastening means usually disposed along. the rearwardly directed `edges of the backs.

A still further object of this invention 'is the provision of an improved method of upholstering backs having contours of extreme curves or iin- :usual shapes.

A further object of this invention is the pro` vision of a simple and economicalV method of accomplishing the foregoing..

Other objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent during the course of the following detailed description.

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view partly in section showing my invention applied to the back of an upholstered article of furniture.

Fig. 21s a similar ,view showing a modified em-'' bodiment of myfinvention.

Fig. 3 is another similar view showing another modified. embodiment of my invention.

45 is avperspectiveviewgin; section.v at an end', of a. fragmenaof' acomloined' welt. andlgimp; o

Referring. to the, drawing and, particularly `to Fig.. 1' wherein.. is shown, a preferred embodiment of my. invention.. the, numeral; 5.` designates,... generally., the back of' an. articleA ofupholstered furniture: which4 comprisesr a, suitable rigidpfframe member @the front' offwliicn is coveredwith a padding Tof. hair., moss, or thel'ik'e. In constructing. thisA form of" upholstered' back',I a, front'. cover 8^ of..fabri"c leather' or some other-suitable. material is, drawn: tightly. over the.' paddingl If andi is secured", as by staplesI or. teckel., along thel top, bottoni. and" si'de i edges; of' thevv frame member 6'. Awelt' LI of contrasting.. color is Athen applied over theA turned" edges IT ofthe cover 8' and. is suitably vsecuredlalong the top and. lside' edges. ofthe back 5 by staples; I'3..- A rear. cover isthen applied to theframe pthle edges|5 beihgfold'e'd over before being secured as by tacks IB to .the frame mem ber 6. The. attaching strip of the welt extends preferably just short ofthe rear edge ofthe frame, as shown, and serves as cushioning means for the edges I 5 of the rear cover. This construction provides a rounded top, rear edge for the cover and avoids the additional operationl of bevelling the edges yof the frame which is generally required in constructions of this character. As is apparent, the cushioning means .serves to minimize the wear of the cover material.

It will be understood that the welt II may be v positioned on the top, bottom and side edges of the back, the width of the edges I5 of the rear -cover I4 being folded over the attaching strip of the welt II. Likewise, if it is desired to position the welt Il along the'rearward edge of the back y5, the above described method of construction may be reversed to accomplish same.

In constructing the modied form shown in Fig. 2, a front cover I8 similar to that previously described, is stretched tightly over the padding I9 and is securedby its edges 2|.to the frame member'22, as by staples I'I. A welt 23is then applied` over the edges 2| and secured by staples 20 along 'the top and side edges of the back, the attaching portion of the Welt extending just short of the rear yedge of the frame 22. The rear' cover 25 is then applied to the frame 22 over the attaching portion of the welt 23 and the edges of cover 25 are .secured by staples 26. A gimp 21 is then ap'-y edges of the top and side' surfaces of the back. However, it will be understood that the welts may have their attaching strip extend. closer to thecenter line of the said surfaces than shown. In constructing this form, front and rear covers 2 9 and 30 respectively,are stretched over the frame member 3l and are secured` along the edges thereof, as by staples 33, with the edges 34 of the rear cover 30 in overlapping relation to the cover 29. A'welt'. 31 is secured to the frame 3| by staples 38 and extends along the rearward top and side corners thereof. Another welt 40 is stitched to an inwardly turned edge 4I of a gimp or band 42 and both thetwelt and the said edge are secured to the frame 3i as by staples 43, it being understood that the gimp or band 42 is subsequently folded back so that the tacks or staples will be hidden from view. The gimp 42 is then tacked, as shown,to complete the upholstering operation. The above described method may be vreversed if desired. It is to be understood that' the foregoing methods of construction are applicable to allsides of an articleof furniture and are intended to include the top, bottom andside surfaces of a back, as well as the front, rear and side surfaces of a seat.

In Fig. 4 is shown `a 'combination gimp and welt, indicated, generally, by numeral 45. The said gimp and weltmay be used in either of the 4embodiments illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3. This combination gimp and welt is formed substantially like the conventional welt except that the upper layer 4B at one end is folded under, as shown.avr It will be seen that inthe application of my'improved gimp andwelt to the back o r seat. of an article of furniture astep is eliminated in the construction thereof. Since it is -often desirable that the color of the welt be in contrastto that of the gimp, it is readily apparent that the above combined gimp and welt may be fabricated from a material having contrastingly colored stripes, the stripes being of the proper widths for forming the bead and attaching strip of the welt and gimp.

From the foregoing, it will thus be seen that I have provided an improved article of furniture and a simple method for constructing the backs of same wherein the forwardly and rearwardly directed portions thereof have substantially similar pleasing appearances."

It is to be understood *that the form of my invention, herewith shown and described, is to be taken asa preferred example of the same, and

.that various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to, without departing from the spirit of my invention or the scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

An article of furniture including an upholstered back comprising a frame, front and rear covers applied thereto, the edge of one of said cover members overlapping the other and fastening means securing same onrthe surfaceof the frame which intersects with the plane thereof, a welt disposed along each of the marginal edges of said surface, eachof said welts having its attaching portions superposed adjacent the margin of each cover, with the edges of saidattaching portions adjacent eachother, and a gimp stitched to one of said welts, fastening members securing one of said attaching portions and said gimp to said frame surface, another .fastening member securing said other attaching portion to said frame surface; said fastening members and fastening means being covered by said gimp and another fastening member on the outside of said gimp securing the gimp yand coverumem'- bers to said frame surface.

BENJAMiN BRODY., 

